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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24669931">Trouble Magnet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/morwen_of_gondor/pseuds/morwen_of_gondor'>morwen_of_gondor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Inspired By Empire Reimagined [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars Original Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Developing Friendships, Fanfiction of Fanfiction, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:42:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>674</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24669931</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/morwen_of_gondor/pseuds/morwen_of_gondor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by Chapter 45 of Wishfulthinking1979's <i>Forging Ahead,</i> this is my answer to the question of why Princess Leia and Admiral Piett were armed and ready to rescue Han Solo and Rear Admiral Venka from a bar fight.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Han Solo &amp; Venka (Star Wars), Leia Organa &amp; Firmus Piett, Leia Organa/Han Solo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Inspired By Empire Reimagined [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898620</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>35</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Princess</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wishfulthinking1979/gifts">Wishfulthinking1979</a>.</li>


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23809237">Forging Ahead</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wishfulthinking1979/pseuds/Wishfulthinking1979">Wishfulthinking1979</a>.
        </li>

    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I’m tellin’ ya, they’ve got the best drinks this side of Corellia. C’mon, you’ll like it way better than whatever fancy, respectable establishment her worship picked out."</p><p>Han Solo had one arm draped companionably over the slightly uncomfortable Rear Admiral Venka’s shoulder, but from the reluctant curiosity the man was radiating into the Force, Leia guessed that his stiff demeanour was more a facade to keep up appearances than anything else. She sighed. She loved Han dearly, but it was indisputably true that where he went, trouble followed, sometimes because he invited it. If she knew anything about that particular smile, he planned on inviting it tonight, and Venka would in all likelihood be caught in the crossfire. Han didn’t consider someone truly his friend unless he’d gotten them in trouble at least once, something that it seemed the Rear Admiral was about to find out the hard way.</p><p>Han caught her eye and gave her his best roguish smile. She caught herself before she could smile in return — she was <i>not</i> going to encourage him — and turned away to meet the deceptively mild hazel eyes of Admiral Piett, who was taking her to dinner tonight (because he was man enough not to be afraid of sushi restaurants, <i>Han</i>). There must have been something in her face, or perhaps he had noticed the signs as well, because he let one hand drift to his side as though reaching for a blaster and raised an enquiring eyebrow in her direction. <i>Well…there had been that bounty hunter on Ord Mantell. Perhaps it was a good idea.</i> She nodded almost imperceptibly.</p><p>Five minutes later, they boarded the Falcon in Han and Venka’s wake, Leia with her lightsaber resting unobtrusively in her boot, Piett with his service blaster on his hip. </p><p><i>It pays to be prepared,</i> Leia thought as the old freighter took off, the engines starting up on the first try for once, listening to Han spin some tall tale or other about the bar he intended to introduce the Rear Admiral to and hoping that she had enough time to eat at least some of her dinner before the inevitable explosions began.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Admiral</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Admiral Piett had been wary of anything that made Han Solo enthusiastic long before he’d found himself in the middle of a space battle flying the Millennium Falcon, and that experience had done nothing to reassure him of the ex-smuggler’s ability to avoid trouble. Therefore, when he saw Solo steering Rear Admiral Venka towards his disreputable crate of a ship and expounding upon the virtues of a dubiously reputable establishment somewhere in the large spaceport where they were currently docked, he was instantly wary.</p><p>Princess Leia was watching Solo with an expression of mixed concern and fondness, which swiftly turned into an admonitory frown as the man looked up to meet her eyes. The corners of her mouth had twitched first, though, and if Solo’s smug expression was anything to go by, Piett had not been alone in noticing that. <i>Trouble on the horizon then, but not life-threatening trouble,</i> he surmised. The princess shifted her gaze to him, and, on an impulse, he mimed reaching for a blaster and looked his question at her. <i>Is it bad enough that I should go armed?</i></p><p>She considered for a moment, then gave him the slightest of nods and turned on her heel, walking back to her quarters.</p><p>When he rejoined her outside the Falcon, wearing his service blaster, though he could see no weaponry on her person, he had no doubt that she was carrying Luke’s latest gift. </p><p> </p><p> It was just as well that they had come prepared, he thought, watching Rear Admiral Venka, who was currently standing back-to-back with Solo in a rather filthy pit of a bar, menace a crowd of angry drunks with the table leg which he wielded like a lightsaber. The hum of the genuine article which the princess had produced from her boot was quite useful in persuading such crowds of the merits of the better part of valour. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, question to all, should I make another chapter and take a stab at Piett's POV of this scene, or is it better left alone? I can't quite make up my mind.</p><p>As you can see, I made up my mind. ;-)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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